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I have been maintaining a decent fitness routine last 6 months or so and I want this to head somewhere. I am not completely happy with my fitness level yet, but I feel having a goal provides a great motivation.
And so, the plan was to start with a Triathlon.

A bit about my routine:
I swim a mile in 45 mins twice a week. I don't own a bike. I can run ~2miles in 22-24 mins (I try to do this once a week) and I haven't done much road biking. I go to the gym twice a week and do bootcamps once a week. I do try to take care of my nutrition and get high protein , low fat food. I am a vegetarian, so it gets difficult sometimes.

So, how do I start preparing for my first sprint triathlon. Is getting a coach a lot better and very helpful? What should my routine be like to train specifically for the competition. Should I incorporate biking and running together in 1 workout (how much biking/running) ? Should I be doing mini aquathlons and duathlon over the weekends ?

Please help me out with this Reddit. This is my biggest challenge of 2013 yet and hopefully more to come.

you don't need a coach. i would recommend you start cycling asap, increase your runs to 2-3 times a week and increase the distance until you are able to run 5 miles.

look at some swim workouts, either on /r/swimming or on beginner triathlete and use them rather than swimming at a constant pace.

you should be aiming to cycle a minimum of 3 times a week (at least 3 hours total), run 3 times a week (at least 2 hours) and swim 3 times a week 2 hours a week.

dont worry so much about the gym, focus on getting lots and lots of swimming/biking/running in. volume is the most significant thing for you right now as it seems you are doing less than 2 hours a week!

should I focus more on the time I spend biking/running - 1 hour and slowly try to increase the distance in the same time or should the focus be on the distance - try and be able to complete the sprint length ?
And thank you for your advice.

at this stage just focus on getting in some cycling. start off doing 30 minutes and add 15 minutes per week, do 3 sessions per week as a start. if you can start cycle commuting to work, it is in easy way to get lots and lots of cycling in.

as for running this week do 3 days of your current distance, from next week add .5 miles

I have joined a swim workout class. It starts on Monday - lets see how it goes. Will checkout /r/swimming
Do you think doing boot-camps is helpful ? - we have one at my workplace once a week. Its free of charge, so I often try to make it.

it depends, if you can comfortably handle cycling, swimming and running 3 times a week and still have energy leftover definitely. but dont choose the bootcamp over training for the event, it will be much, much less useful than training for the sport.

anyway, here are some relevant subreddits i find useful and you may too:

My first sprint tri this past fall was a lot of fun. I over trained on the swimming and under trained for the bike.

Since the majority of the race (time and distance) will be on the bike, begin getting some miles under your belt.

Also, doing bike / run bricks are very important, so integrate those into your routine sooner rather than later. This will help you understand how long after your bike --> run transition you'll find your normal stride.

After you finish the race you'll be in a much better position to judge how to train for your second triathlon. Think of this as an information gathering session, and you'll set yourself up for great races later on.

Bike/run bricks are just to practice the two sports after each other. You will find that running just after cycling feels a bit weird in the legs. Doing 10 minutes cycling, 10 minutes running is all you need. Do this 3 times in row and you're set. Alternatively, make a habit of running for 15 minutes after each time you've been on the bike. There is no point in running for more than 10-15 minutes.

Before my first tri I made sure I could finish each portion of the race separately. You will get through swimming just fine, try to swim just behind someone and draft on them if you can. In your situation I would get as much bike and run practice as I could before the race and not worry about the swim. You could probably finish the sprint tomorrow, actually. By doing as much biking and running as you can the next weeks you should be able to shave off quite a bit of time.

If you only run 2miles pr week now I would recommend doing (pr week) 2 1-mile runs where you run what you are made of and one 3-mile run and take it really slow keeping the heart rate down. Biking: Hop on the bike and bike as much as you can. Don't bother with planning to much. Explore your neighborhood, play with it. Get your body used to this new and strange thing.

A wise man I know told me to always leave a little left after exercise, that feeling that I could have ran/biked/swam longer. That feeling makes it way easier to get out the next day since you have some unfinished business out there.

Race packet: I assume he means the bag you get at the race with bib, swim cap and what not.

The most important thing for you on race day is to have fun. If you don't it will probably be your last tri.

Thanks a lot. Will def. Start with the brick runs today. I am working on creating a proper schedule.
Loving the encouragement and the feel of starting this. Hopefully, my 1st one will make me want more. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks again

The purpose of a brick is to condition your body to the transition. Typically you bike and then rest, and your body becomes accustomed to that transition. You bike 20 miles, then sit on the couch for a few hours. Your muscles begin to remember this, so when you come off the bike in a race, your body will think to shut down and it's time to rest, just as you would during your normal training routine. A brick reconditions your body to transition from biking into running without your muscle shutting down. This is why you don't need to put in a 10k as part of a brick, 10 or 15 minutes off the bike will be enough to condition your muscles. It's a matter of reteaching the muscle memory.

If you're comfortable on the swim, which is typically the most difficult part for new triathletes, then I would suggest upping your bike and run volume. Boot camps and cross training are great, especially in the off season, but you get faster at cycling by cycling.

I wouldn't spend the money on a coach yet, as there are a lot of resources out there. I'm in my third season, and only plan to get a coach next season before my first 70.3. Take a look around slowtwitch.com, and pick up The Triathletes Training Bible. Also, don't get discouraged. This sport is hard, but it'll change your life.

Definitely doable. When I did my first Tri (sprint) I had 7 weeks to prepare. I had not swim in a couple of years and not rode my bike in well over a year but I was in 'ok' shape with a couple of runs per week and some strength sessions per week.

Here's how I went about things:

Dropped the strength training to spare my recovery for swim/run/bike.

First couple of weeks were boot camp mode. (vacation - so lots of time) made out of 3 runs, 3 bike and 3 swim-sessions per week, I'd say 2/3'rds of them was bricks. That really kick started my focus on the triathlon race and also made me practice transitions a lot.

Week 4-6 I didn't have time for as much sessions because of work but to compensate I made the sessions longer.

To be time efficient almost all bike was hill climbing or sprint intervals.

I'm also preparing for my first triathlon in May. I cycle to work and back every day (10 miles each way), run four to five times per week (around 30 miles weekly) and swim 3 times per week.

I'm also building core strength by taking 15 minutes long gym classes daily. But what I find most important is proper diet, so if you are looking for places to improve, I'd start there.

I'm 31 years old, I had been smoking for almost 10 years (I've quit over year ago) , only started exercising year ago, an I've been on strict plan since January . I also document my progress on my blog on http://50bpm.com).

It's great that your work travel counts as exercise. Good luck on your first tri :)

It's interesting that you bought up nutrition, I have started tracking my meals using my fitness pal. Food is a little tricky as I am vegetarian. I eat a lot of lentils for breakfast, salads/sandwiches with tofu and edamame for lunch. Snacks are usually nuts and fruits at work. And I get confused for dinner. Usually go back to lentils or eat out.
I saw the overnight oats recipe mentioned in one of the fitness reddits and will try it over the weekend.

I was trying to use my fitness pal for a while, but then I've realized that in I eat only things that prepare by myself.

Question is - do you eat eggs and diary products, or are you totally vegan? I've spoken with my colleague, who is vegetarian and goes for a gym a lot and he told me that he has troubles gaining any weight.

Anyway, apart from vitamins and micro elements found in meat, vegan diet is usually lower in proteins, so you should try to offset that, by either protein supplements or diary.

Do and don't? I'm still finding mine, since this fitness regime is quite new to me, software developer, sitting many hours in front of computer daily :D.

You said that you weight 155 lbs, so I assume that you don't need to lose weight? If that's the case, don't try to go for some crazy low energy diet, otherwise you won't have any strength for training. What I do is I try to eat carbohydrates in the morning and after main workouts, rest of my meals are mostly protein + unsaturated fats. I eat supplements daily (protein, protein + carbohydrates, protein + carbohydrates + energy mix: caffeine / taurine shakes, depending on how much strength do I have), but I consider myself exercising a lot.

Just calculate how much do you workout (in calories) and try to compensate it with proteins and recovery carbs if needed.

Don't starve yourself, but on the other hand, don't be afraid to take it easy from time to time and have a nice cheat meal ;)